Just hum it to yourself ... you know the words
YES!!!!!! After I posted about wanting to rock like a baby in a corner, I checked out a new site
Lord Somber sent me (I've linked to it in the sidebar --
Villainous Company) and just about regained all my strength and hope and resolve to stick it out because things can be better if you're willing to laugh a little.
This little gem made me laugh a lot. Lord Somber, you're a good friend.
Somewhere over the rainbow
I really, really want to talk about important things today. But I'm just so tired... my workplace's
Brownian motion of the top brass has got me down; it doesn't help that I happened to catch
Dangerous Liaisons last night on the magical light box in my living room and, while John Malkovich is redeemed in the end, he and his great love have to die. I'm sure it's meant to convey the idea that, as Glenn Close's evil Marquise de Merteuil notes, "Vanity and happiness are incompatible," and this is a good lesson. And quite the zinger.
But damn, they have to die? Why do they have to die??
So, in the interest of my sanity, screw important things. Here's Jon Heder in
Benchwarmers. Relish the way his hair curls around his bike helmet. I'm going to run away for a little while and suck my thumb in some corner and try to imagine a better place where no one has to die for doing what's right. Happy Friday....
Synchronicity
I recommended a movie recently to some folks so I had to move it to the top of my Netflix list towatch it again and make sure I wasn't recommending something subpar. Thankfully, it is as good as I remember -- I always say it's a favorite, but hadn't seen it in a while and you know how tastes change... (Ewan McGregor...mmmmm....)
Anyway, I've said all that to say this: there's a great R.E.M. song in this movie from
New Adventures in Hi-Fi, the last R.E.M. disc I bought (I have all previous -- I'm a fan...), and
I wanted to share it cause it's just that cool. So here it is.
And, from the same disc, because my sister Juliana and I were just talking about their induction into the Ga. Music Hall of Fame,
here's one that makes me think of you Juje.
Oh, and a friend recently introduced me to this band. Check out their
MySpace page and play MetalGrammar w/Nelly. You
will want to dance. And this, as we know, is never a bad thing.
I can't believe we even argue over this
So, are they going to have to invade, steal children and execute them in the street before people get the picture? These people are fanatics. Crazy. Single-minded and violent. Just weighing in.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005947.htm
Cool babies (the world could use some...)
Okay, in light of my making fun of the "Mommy has a tattoo" book, it might seem incongrous to
actually kind of dig this. But I do. Kharma police...
Unicorn test
My friend CE (who coined the term Lord Ocmulgee -- you know who you are) told me the funniest thing this morning in class. She said that you can find out if someone's a unicorn by asking what their favorite color is. "If they say sparkle, they might be a unicorn."
Genius.
because she loves me
So, my Mom and I were chatting on the phone this morning so I could avoid writing what is sure to be a most stimulating paper on whether or not centralization in higher education governance is a good or bad thing. I know everyone has their own passionate opinion on this topic so I'll reserve mine for the paper because it might just be too provocative and forward thinking for many readers.
Mom took the opportunity to check me on my statement in my last post about what people should do on Fridays. While I don't think I meant it as scandalously as all that, Mom thought it was irresponsible and flippant enough to pack it into her bag of things to check me on next time we talked. "I've been meaning to get onto you about this," she said.
So, as I have no wish to be irresponsible and sometimes just say things because they sound kinda poetic, I gotta say that perhaps Mom's right about giving people the wrong idea. If there's one thing I'm really talented at, it's that. And it is a source of almost constant grief.
Therefore, the statement has been removed. Thanks Mom for caring enough to gently knock me back a step. Not everyone is lucky enough to have someone do that for them. Sounds weird doesn't it?
The king of carrot flowers
I'm so annoyed right now that anything I write will be a rant. And I'm trying to cut down on bitterness in my diet cause I hear it causes cancer. What I can say is that good business decisions are rarely made from personal motivation. In other words, doing what's right for the business can be sharply disconnected from doing what's right for you. How people who've been in the workplace for 20+ years and are well into their middle age years have let this escape them is beyond me.
For Friday, here's the
Lord Somber-offered Space Blog (he re-sent as payment for "the props"),
here's a sample of a really good local record that I've been re-visiting, and
here's one for my bitches.It's Friday people. Have a drink and [censored as unbecoming a lady by my mother]
It's impossible to be somber at Sears
Wanna know how cool
Lord Somber is? He sends me stuff about
Borat and the
future of computers and
bad (really, really super bad to the point of being barely believable) children's literature and the space blog (which got sent to the junk email bin and was inadvertantly deleted so google it).
He's not as somber as he would have us believe.
And, for the record,
Cute Overload is a stellar example of good web fare, and not just for the "awww, baby animals factor." The owner of the site also talks about how she and her husband and their roommate had a Sears Christmas photo taken and it, as you can see, is the greatest photo. Ever. Pure, unadulterated genius.
Good Advice
Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.
Mea culpa
A'right, so I just realized how angry and bitter my last post sounded. Please disregard. What I meant to say was:
The show was great. Loved the new rap song.
And here's a bunch of kittens courtesy of
Cute Overload (which I will link to officially in the very near future)
Kitten 1: [Gnawing on
own leg] "THIS IS SOME CRAZY SHIT, MAN"
Kitten 2: [Getting assaulted by a bro, and chomping on a foot in return] "Sayonara TOESVILLE!"
Kitten 3: (Lower middle) [Assaulting bro, eyes clenched shut] "Ye shall perish!!!"
Kitten 4: (Back) [Looking for an exit from Crazyville] "Mommeeeeeee!"
Kitten 5: (Center of pile) "Could be worse, I could be in the
eleven-kitten mosh pit!"
Kitten 6: [Has no idea where his own limbs are, getting hit in face] "Don't touch the merch, mofo!"
Kitten 7: (Bottom right legs) "LAAATE!"
Today, I'm not prepared to let it go
Okay, because I'm under a lot of pressure I feel compelled to correct something. True, only those who actually read this blog will ever see this but maybe -- just maybe -- I can finally begin to correct some of the inconsistencies.
Here's what I wrote:
Shitty Candy – Roadhouse, Thursday, June 22
The Roadhouse hasn’t changed much from when I was in college and my sojourn there of a Thursday night before AthFest was pleasingly familiar. And when the air was pelted with the thrashing sounds of angry chick rock – borderline true punk rock – I had a pure nostalgic moment. Shitty Candy reminded me of those fuzzy days fifteen or so years ago where folks just got up and did what they did because they wanted to – and they didn’t give a damn if you were impressed or not.
Because I knew the ladies performing – several of them have secret identities as graceful dancers at local the DanceSpace dance studio on Milledge – I was shocked and awed by their ability to morph into Circus Peanuts (that’s the teaser – see the show to find out what this means. I’m talking electric blue outfits and crappy orange circus candy everywhere…) and raucous musicians in attire that would make Neil Gaiman proud.
And the music? Well, let me just say that the originals were guitar-hammered thrash songs about the lead singer’s Bitch-ass dog and the inconsistency of being a freaky ballerina. They even covered an L7 song. There was a tiny little girl in a satin oriental-style dress hammering the drums and the singer had a voice full of that “piss-off” spirit of the great 70s punk bands. And done without even the slightest bit of “we take ourselves seriously.” It was all so – well – fun.
In short: more Shitty Candy please. My hope is that they book a larger venue where the singer can jump around like the banshee she’s channeling and the Circus Peanuts can climb down off their boxes and get in your face. You won’t regret the spectacle.
[Sarah Lee]
Now, see what
ran. "It was fun."? What the hell?
I wouldn't care execpt my name's on it and the girls deserve better representation. I'm aware, having worked there, of the heirarchy of editing over at the Flagpole so the music editor, as far as I'm concerned, is in the clear.
Not to split hairs, and normally I'd never even mention it because it's a lot of jealously guarding of something kinda small but, ya know, here lately, I'm fucking over it.
Ramp up your game Flagpole. You only make
yourself look bad.
Happy Friday people.
Shit-tay Can-day
My girls are playing again tonight.
And um, hey Flagpole, nice editing! I went back and re-read what I wrote and you actually increased the amount of typos. But I still love ya...
Missed opportunities
Chris Hitchens wrote a fantastic piece called
"Solidarity" for yesterday's Wall Street Journal Opinion page. It's about how we might ought to be viewing this current war from a worldwide perspective. While I think that most of us do -- but then I only know my immediate peer group -- it's a great read. I think Hitchens is becoming a great American. Just like those British forefathers who preceded him.
He mentions Amad Shah Massoud, leader of Afghnistan's Northern Alliance, who wanted very badly for us to oust ol' Bin Laden back in the day. I had one of those Jungian synchronous moments where I remembered the most compelling line from Sunday night's ABC docudrama "The Path to 9/11" -- after yet another last minute decision to halt the operation to capture Bin Laden, Massoud asks one of the lead agents, "Are there any men left in Washington?"
I bet that really happened. It cut to commercial before the guy answered.
Oh, and let me be clear on this one -- this little vignette happened during the Clinton administration lest anyone start thinking that this bullshit could have been managed during the current administration. The dye was cast long before 2000.
Propaganda and cynicism
The busy-ness has become par for the course, so "sound bytes" are my only option for posting here lately.
But here're the things I'd like to offer:
This looks great. If for no other reason (not really sure how factual this will be -- sounds like a bit of propaganda really) because I'm really enjoying watching some of these media outlets and party pundits freak out about the dramatization of this particular chain of events when these same crazies are responsible for so much of the misinformation and nasty political mudslingin' that goes on. Hypocrisy, in some sick way, is so much fun to point at when it's blatant. I'm not sure what this says about my character but so be it. It's likely simply because I'm powerless to control some of this kind of hypocrisy when I see it in my day to day life, I find laughing at the "indignation" of these hypocrites from the safety of my living room surprisingly cathartic.
And, despite what Sandy Berger says, apparently one of the writers of the 9/11 Commission Report worked pretty closely with the writers to ensure accuracy. Bring it on ABC!
And Harvey Keitel is in it; I mean, c'mon? Fantastic? yes!
Had a "you like that, too?!" moment at work with a new friend who informed me that he's really liking
Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan. I very nearly swooned. This is one of my top 5 favorite records and
contains one of my top 3 favorite songs. And now there's a
box set with the three best albums by this genius of the written word. Ah, the little things...
And finally, I re-rented
this little gem of a movie. No one really saw it which is sad cause it's right hilarious. So see it.
oh yeah, and have I mentioned that
Mental Floss
is the most enjoyable magazine I've read in quite some time? Foregoing preachy for "just the facts" in a truly tongue in cheek way, I've larned more about what drives up gas prices and parasitic organisms than from years of the history channel, Discovery (channel and mag) and Nova combined. My dream is to be published in this magazine. Here's hopin'...
Happy Friday, ya'll!
Teachin' old dogs
Okay, so I think I might try to meet the master's program kids out for happy hour tonight. I'm very shy about these kinds of things ... If they hate me I can always leave, right?
I also might get this kit:
for Stella so when she breaks out into Bitin' and Destroyin' mode -- or BAD for short -- it will be that much more surprising. And funny.
And it can't be any more humiliating than the Fancy Pants
I made her wear before she was fixed. This is not a joke by the way. Hers looked remarkably similar to these. I thought my father -- who, after installing a dog door in my new house recently said he had just violated a major tenet of his life philosophy by creating a way for the dog to get
in the house -- just rolled his eyes after catching sight of the wonder that is Fancy Pants. I think he actually felt sorry for Stella. Whatever.
I recommended a movie recently to some folks so I had to move it to the top of my Netflix list towatch it again and make sure I wasn't recommending something subpar. Thankfully, it is as good as I remember -- I always say it's a favorite, but hadn't seen it in a while and you know how tastes change... (Ewan McGregor...mmmmm....)
Okay, in light of my making fun of the "Mommy has a tattoo" book, it might seem incongrous to actually kind of dig this. But I do. Kharma police...
I'm so annoyed right now that anything I write will be a rant. And I'm trying to cut down on bitterness in my diet cause I hear it causes cancer. What I can say is that good business decisions are rarely made from personal motivation. In other words, doing what's right for the business can be sharply disconnected from doing what's right for you. How people who've been in the workplace for 20+ years and are well into their middle age years have let this escape them is beyond me.
Kitten 1: [Gnawing on own leg] "THIS IS SOME CRAZY SHIT, MAN"
